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Restaurateur Basalone Sets Sights on Expansion for Arabella's

An architectural rendering shows the future site of Arabellas Italian Ristorante at the corner of West Central Avenue and Fourth Street Northwest in downtown Winter Haven. People's Furniture was formally located at the site. (Provided to the Ledger Media Group)

Last Modified: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 6:19 a.m.

The Italian restaurateur and longtime partner Brian Rich are poised to purchase the People's Furniture building.

Nicholas Spagnola, who owned and operated the furniture store at 347 W. Central Ave. for 44 years, has retired and shuttered the doors.

In its place, perhaps as early as this summer, a new Arabella's will grace the corner in downtown Winter Haven, along with Basalone's two other enterprises, the informal Bistro Pizza and the slightly upscale Ave. Bar. Chef Italo Casini will continue to preside over the kitchen of Arabella's.

What, you may ask, incredulously, will become of Arabella's current spot, with its handsome red-brick and black linen decor? In a word — steak.

The new restaurant yet to be named is destined, Basalone said, to be Polk County's premier upscale steakhouse, a smaller, rustic take on the sort of experience one encounters at places like Bern's Steak House in Tampa or Vito's Chop House in Orlando.

Basalone's steak house will stretch into the adjacent space now occupied by Ave. Bar, which is moving across the street.

The trio of Arabella's, Ave. Bar and Pizza Bistro will occupy the ground floor, while the former furniture building's third floor will house an upscale, private dining room and bar for meetings, parties and special occasions.

The second floor will be reserved for office space unrelated to the restaurant enterprise.

All told, Basalone and Rich estimate the conversion at $700,000.

It's a substantial investment that Basalone predicts will pay off, given Winter Haven's projected growth, spurred in part by Legoland Florida, and completion of the CSX rail terminal and The Landings.

Basalone recently discussed his plans with The Ledger:

Q. You can get a pretty good steak at quite a few Polk County eateries, so what will you and your partner bring to the party?

A. Steak is in demand. We want to do a higher-end steakhouse, and we had this beautiful place (Arabella's dining room). We pay rent there, and in fact we just renewed (the lease) for the next five years.

Q. Would you describe the new concept?

A. Like a Bern's Steak House in Tampa, something like that, with dry-aged steak, definitely, and of course some fish. We have the space (to age our own meat), and we'll also buy it already aged. The bar area we'll remodel some; we'll redecorate, maybe with a little bit more natural wood. My partner's really good at that. I'll leave it to him.

Q. What is the scope of your plan to renovate the People's Furniture building?

A. Nothing will be torn down. Upstairs (on the third floor) we'll have room for bigger parties and a bar, music on a Friday or something. All three —Pizza Bistro, Ave. Bar, Arabella's, will be on a corner (on the ground floor). Arabella's will be elegant, yes, the same that's here now. We don't want to change anything.

Q. You moved from Italy to Switzerland at age 17 to attend culinary school, followed by several years' employment at restaurants in Germany. Then what?

A. I opened my first pizzeria (in Germany) in 1980, and in two or three years, made a lot of money, but I was burned out. I went back to school and finished my degree in hotel and restaurant management. (From there) I worked as a head waiter at a restaurant on Lake Constance in the summer, and in the winter, I was in St. Moritz. I was head waiter and assistant maitre d' in a five-star hotel.

Q. So is your heart in Polk County or in the Alps?

A. I still have (a hotel) with my brother on Lake Constance in the German Alps. It's beautiful.

<p>WINTER HAVEN | Sitting tableside inside his cozy corner restaurant, Arabella's, Franco Basalone points north across West Central Avenue to the future of his growing culinary kingdom.</p><p>The Italian restaurateur and longtime partner Brian Rich are poised to purchase the People's Furniture building.</p><p>Nicholas Spagnola, who owned and operated the furniture store at 347 W. Central Ave. for 44 years, has retired and shuttered the doors.</p><p>In its place, perhaps as early as this summer, a new Arabella's will grace the corner in downtown Winter Haven, along with Basalone's two other enterprises, the informal Bistro Pizza and the slightly upscale Ave. Bar. Chef Italo Casini will continue to preside over the kitchen of Arabella's.</p><p>What, you may ask, incredulously, will become of Arabella's current spot, with its handsome red-brick and black linen decor? In a word — steak.</p><p>The new restaurant yet to be named is destined, Basalone said, to be Polk County's premier upscale steakhouse, a smaller, rustic take on the sort of experience one encounters at places like Bern's Steak House in Tampa or Vito's Chop House in Orlando.</p><p>Basalone's steak house will stretch into the adjacent space now occupied by Ave. Bar, which is moving across the street.</p><p>The trio of Arabella's, Ave. Bar and Pizza Bistro will occupy the ground floor, while the former furniture building's third floor will house an upscale, private dining room and bar for meetings, parties and special occasions.</p><p>The second floor will be reserved for office space unrelated to the restaurant enterprise.</p><p>All told, Basalone and Rich estimate the conversion at $700,000.</p><p>It's a substantial investment that Basalone predicts will pay off, given Winter Haven's projected growth, spurred in part by Legoland Florida, and completion of the CSX rail terminal and The Landings.</p><p>Basalone recently discussed his plans with The Ledger:</p><p> </p><p>Q. You can get a pretty good steak at quite a few Polk County eateries, so what will you and your partner bring to the party?</p><p>A. Steak is in demand. We want to do a higher-end steakhouse, and we had this beautiful place (Arabella's dining room). We pay rent there, and in fact we just renewed (the lease) for the next five years.</p><p> </p><p>Q. Would you describe the new concept?</p><p>A. Like a Bern's Steak House in Tampa, something like that, with dry-aged steak, definitely, and of course some fish. We have the space (to age our own meat), and we'll also buy it already aged. The bar area we'll remodel some; we'll redecorate, maybe with a little bit more natural wood. My partner's really good at that. I'll leave it to him.</p><p> </p><p>Q. What is the scope of your plan to renovate the People's Furniture building?</p><p>A. Nothing will be torn down. Upstairs (on the third floor) we'll have room for bigger parties and a bar, music on a Friday or something. All three —Pizza Bistro, Ave. Bar, Arabella's, will be on a corner (on the ground floor). Arabella's will be elegant, yes, the same that's here now. We don't want to change anything.</p><p> </p><p>Q. You moved from Italy to Switzerland at age 17 to attend culinary school, followed by several years' employment at restaurants in Germany. Then what?</p><p>A. I opened my first pizzeria (in Germany) in 1980, and in two or three years, made a lot of money, but I was burned out. I went back to school and finished my degree in hotel and restaurant management. (From there) I worked as a head waiter at a restaurant on Lake Constance in the summer, and in the winter, I was in St. Moritz. I was head waiter and assistant maitre d' in a five-star hotel.</p><p> </p><p>Q. So is your heart in Polk County or in the Alps?</p><p>A. I still have (a hotel) with my brother on Lake Constance in the German Alps. It's beautiful.</p>